Gillibrand Acknowledges Campaign Via Web Video

Generally speaking, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand hasn’t acknowledged her opponent, Republican Wendy Long, or even talked much about the fact that she’s running for her first six-year term this year.

That isn’t to say that she’s not out there working and making appearances – including a stint on The Daily Show during the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte and a speech to the Iowa delegation, too – and also raising a boatload of campaign cash. (She had more $10.5 million on hand at the end of the last reporting period, and has sent out numerous fundraising appeals since then).

But through it all, Gillibrand eschews politics in favor of policy, talking about everything from the Republicans’ “war on women” – a favorite topic – to food stamps. She usually lets her spokesmen handle responses to Long’s political attacks, and tells reporters she’s just focused on best the best senator she can be for the people of New York.

And yes, she does indeed intend to keep the job for the full six years if she’s re-elected this fall.

Gillibrand’s approach makes sense, given the fact that she’s consistently shown beating Long by a wide double-digit margin and has managed to keep her own approval rating hovering at a respectable – though hardly stellar – 50 percent.

Today, Gillibrand’s campaign released a web video highlighting the senator’s accomplishments (using the old Google search approach). It’s the first such video of the camapign season that I can recall receiving. It is not a TV ad, simply urging viewers to “join Kirsten’s campaign at KristenGillibrand.com”.

This also makes sense, even though Gillibrand has campaign cash to burn. Why spend it this far out from Election Day when she’s already so far ahead and facing an opponent deep in debt with no name recognition?